The Federal Government Role the Development of the U.S. Software Industry
Richard N. Langlois, David C. Mowery · 1996
Abstract The development of the U.S. computer software industry has been powerfully influenced by federal government policy during the postwar period. Its importance for the demands of cold war defense, especially strategic air defense during the 1950s, meant that the software industry received considerable federal R&D and procurement funding throughout the postwar period. But the very novelty of computer technology and software meant that a substantial portion of the defense-related spending in software was allocated to the creation of an infrastructure that would support a new area of R&D, training, and technology development. Federal support for the creation of this infrastructure provided important benefits to the commercial U.S. software industry. From the earliest years of the postwar era, private industry has been responsible for a great deal of innovation in software; but by the 1960s, these industrial innovations drew on research and manpower that had been generously supported by federal government funds.